A night at the circus

I went to the circus last night. It was held in a round building, it started at 7PM (I left at 11:30, and it was still going), and I got to see several clowns perform. The strange thing was, it wasn't billed as a circus - it was called a Planning Commission Hearing. The clowns on the City of Phoenix Planning Commission entertained (and oftimes infuriated) the taxpaying public by bending over backwards to please some developers.

A cadre of developers (including "Captain Combover" himself, a.k.a. Donald Trump) want to build new buildings up to 190ft tall in an area that's only zoned for 56 ft. The Donald wasn't there, but he sent in a bevy of blow-dried boobs armed with posters and Power Point presentations. The chairman of the committee was clearly biased, and at one point stated "I like tall buildings!" (yeah, especially if they're not in your neighborhood).

The chair (Bob Ford) was so clearly in the pocket of the developers, it wasn't even funny. He knowingly called up a speaker during "opposition" time who was in support of the plan. Those in support got much more time than those in opposition. Also in the Hall of Shame is Don Keuth, who was just as biased as Bob.

The vice chair, Dr. Joan Kelchner, was the sole voice of reason. She spoke of keeping the development toward downtown, and even of incentives for green/sustainable building. If she does vote agains it on the 21st of this month, she may be the only one.

I got to see how Phoenix city politics works last night, and I didn't care for it one bit.

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Disclaimer: I don't live in the affected area (nice place, but are you kidding me? I couldn't afford a two-man tent in that part of town). I just don't want to see the developers continue to steamroll neighborhoods with historical value.